Tata Digital on Friday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in BigBasket. Though the organization did not disclose facts of the transaction, filings with the Competition Commission of India earlier showed that Tata Digital has acquired about 64.3% of the total share capital of Supermarket Grocery Supplies, the organization-to-organization vertical of the e-grocer, via a mixture of major and secondary acquisitions.
The transaction valued at about $1.2 billion is estimated to give BigBasket a post-funds valuation of close to $2 billion.
“Grocery is one of the largest components of an individual’s consumption basket in India, and BigBasket, as India’s largest e-grocery player, fits in perfectly with our vision of creating a large consumer digital ecosystem,” Pratik Pal, CEO of Tata Digital, stated in a statement.
The deal sets the pitch for the Tatas’ super app play. A super app is a service via which a organization brings all its customer offerings on a single platform. The conglomerate’s entry into the digital fold will intensify competitors in the e-commerce space that currently has Flipkart, Amazon and Reliance jostling for a larger share of the marketplace.
While the deal has been in the performs for some time, the timing could not have been more opportune. The pandemic has substantially altered customer behaviour and nudged quite a few more Indians to shop on the internet. Consumers are increasingly banking on on the internet platforms to purchase all sorts of goods — from apparel and style accessories to electronics and medicines.
Even households that historically subscribed to neighbourhood shops or kiranas for month-to-month grocery purchases and major-ups have embraced the digital mode.
Founded in 2011, the Bengaluru-based BigBasket has expanded its presence to more than 25 cities across India. “In the e-grocery space, the company provides one of the largest assortments (more than 50,000 SKUs) and provides customers the convenience of home deliveries on preferred dates and time slots,” Tata Digital stated.